Electronic versus paper-based patient records. A cost-benefit analysis

Background. The aim of this study is to compare the costs and benefits of e lectronic, paperless patient records with the conventional paper-based char ts. Methods. Costs and benefits of planned electronic patient records are calcu lated for a University eye hospital with 140 beds. Benefit is determined by direct costs saved by electronic records. Results. In the example shown, the additional benefits of electronic patien t records, as far as they can be quantified total 192,000 DM per year. The costs of the necessary investments are 234,000 DM per year when using a lin ear depreciation over 4 years. In total, there are additional annual costs for electronic patient records of 42,000 DM. Different scenarios were analy zed. By increasing the time of depreciation to 6 years, the cost deficit re duces to only approximately 9,000 DM. Increased wages reduce the deficit fu rther while the deficit increases with a loss of functions of the electroni c patient record. However, several benefits of electronic records regarding research, teaching, quality control and better data access cannot be easil y quantified and would greatly increase the benefit to cost ratio. Conclusion. Only part of the advantages of electronic patient records can e asily be quantified in terms of directly saved costs. The small cost defici t calculated in this example is overcompensated by several benefits, which can only be enumerated qualitatively due to problems in quantification.